Our Structure Plans For July

Summer Structure Please refer all ** marks to Disclosure statement at the bottom of my post, also feel free to visit my Disclosure Page on the bar on the right hand side of my blog. Links may be included in this post. Summary: Below I have included some pictures and a video of Carter, also what I have planned for July in regards to structure, and of course, what is going on at home this week. To skip to the autism related topic "July's Structured Schedule." Carter is finally on my blog & vlog! Finally, Carter's father has signed my consent form so I can feature him here! 😀 He is very excited to be included in both, we did record a video together with some Q & A's on him so you all can get to know him better. I am including some pictures and videos of him below I feel you would enjoy: July's Structured Schedule Summer School: Both kiddos start summer school the week of the 8th. Since they will be attending that for at least an hour each, I need to get my butt back to the gym. I swear, I look at a cookie and put on two pounds 😂  I really hope it goes well for them and will be a good prep session for next school year. Center for Carter: He has started this last month and developed a friendship with another kiddo at his skill level. They also are on the same baseball team! We are through the honeymoon phase and are now seeing the typical behaviors we saw during the school year. I am working with my parenting coach to learn how she is approaching these situations and how to better process with him. Baseball for Carter: Baseball has been going well so far. The kiddos like to play at the park next to the baseball diamond afterward, and if their behavior meets my expectations, we sometimes get ice cream on the way home. As these games are in the evening, it wears the kiddos down so I'm glad they are at that time. It makes for an easy transition to bedtime. Activities for Maddex: While Carter is at the center in the late morning, Maddex gets some one on one time with me and we do outdoor activities and socialization. A nice thing about summer at parks here is the city offers the kiddos free lunch. Maddex really enjoys this as my mother did this with him last summer. This also gives him a chance for some pool play and park play to tire him out. As he is starting to nap less, he becomes crabby in the afternoon. "Getting the beans out" or wiggles out or however you may call it, is good for him. All kiddos need some time to run around and just be kids! Academics at Home: We are continuing with our school work books and it's going okay so far. I am guessing this is because it's new; by the end of July I expect to see behaviors and more defiance with completing these tasks. I am making notes on their score sheets (they come with the work books) for IEP's in the fall. This way, I can provide examples of the results of what I see, and how I have approached the situation. As I mentioned in my vlog, I am including the alligator song and picture I discussed. Here it is: I do not take credit for this picture and song, to see the site, click here and here. This is not my work. Also, see my disclaimer at the bottom of the page, and my Disclosure page, here. Posting the Chore Chart: This has been going well so far. The boys enjoy going to the pool as their prize activity. For more information on this, read my post on them under Visuals To Reinforce Good Behavior, in 'Bridging the Summer Gap', click here. It's going to be a busy month! And, fingers crossed, very productive. What's going on with us this week? As I have stated above, videos and pictures of carter! I am so excited that I can finally share with you my charming little boy, I hope you enjoy seeing and watching him. Check out my YouTube channel for our first official video together here. Of course, like and subscribe to never miss another video. If you do subscribe, click the bell to turn on notifications. Leave us some comments and let me know anything else you would like to know about Carter. The Fourth of July! Yikes. I am not a fan of fireworks. This year, Andy is working the night of the holiday - I may catch up with a friend and see if she is taking her kids to see the fireworks; if not, we may just watch them on the tv. I do have noise cancelling headphones just in case we would need them. Prepping for our trip to Florida next month. As I have previously mentioned, we are going to Disney. The kiddos are so excited! With Carter's autism, I need to get in contact with his psychiatrist to get a doctor's note; I am hoping to reach out to the amusement parks, air lines, and hotel to see what accommodations they can make if we need them for Carter. I am so glad I bought an all-in-one printer with a fax in it. This makes sending the doctor's notes so much easier. That all sounds like a headache, I have a lot of work to do! My closing thoughts I am so happy I can finally introduce Carter to you, I hope you are too. Structure is important even in the summer months. I hope you enjoyed my post, don't forget to check out my YouTube channel to see my vlog on this post with some conversations with Carter also. Check out our Q & A video also to learn a bit about Carter. Follow me on social media to stay in the know how of my posts and vlogs. Thank you all for reading, I really appreciate your support! Have a great day 💓 **Disclosure: Reviews of products & referenced links are not sponsored by any affiliates and are solely the opinion of the Author; these are strictly opinions and honest advice, which should not be considered consumer or health guidelines. The Autism Soup and/or The Author are not responsible for any injuries or damage due to procedures listed above. Please consult with your doctor in regards to health concerns.

Bridging The Summer Gap

Summer Structure Please refer all ** marks to Disclosure statement at the bottom of my post, also feel free to visit my Disclosure Page page on the bar on the right hand side of my blog. Links may be included in this post. Summary: I have listed some ideas on how to keep your kiddo's skills fresh during the summer below. Also, I have included a bit about my family life for the week. To skip to the autism related topic "Visuals to Reinforce Good Behavior" & "How To Keep up on academics & structure during the summer". How To Keep up on academics & structure during the summer: Often times during the summer, it can be hard to "bridge the gap" of academics and structure, which is what this post is all about. Keeping a consistent schedule and brushing up on your kiddo's learning is important during summer break to prep them for the next school year. So, how do we do that? I have details on that below: For this summer, this list is what I plan to set in place and work on with my kiddos this summer: Creating & Maintaining a learning schedule: I recently picked up some work books for the kiddos for the grade they will be in next school year. I will be working with Maddex on the general curriculum of Kindergarten, and for Carter, reading and math. I found these workbooks at a local school store; however, you can also find them at **Walmart among other places such as **Barnes & Noble or online. I have displayed these in my vlog also if you would like to see an example. Planning some fun activities: These can be used as a motivator for the learning piece of the summer. Also, this will tie into the visual chart for behaviors in the next point. Posting a visual chart for reinforcing good behavior: This is listed below in the next section, I also have displayed an example of this on my vlog; I will expand on this in the next section. Keeping a Routine: Routine is always important to stay consistent as kiddos respond best to that. Having an awkward schedule that always changes may be confusing for your child and is not productive. However, these things happen, staying as routine and consistent as you can is key. Summer Programming: Skill building and socialization is important. In the summer, some of us autism parents do have lots of play dates for our kiddos, however, some of us do not. Children need to interact with their peers to work on their social skills, and incorporating in skill building is a good idea. Whether it's going to the library for a reading activity geared around a group of kiddos, or stopping in to a local autism center for ideas. If you are able to find a summer program (there are plenty throught the **YMCA and state), I encourage you to take advantage of that. If you are unsure where to start, you can reach out to your state agency's waiver program, usually they appoint a worker to you and can then provide resources. For example, Carter was referred to an autism center for 4 hours a week working with two personnel at the center for behaviors. He will also be attending summer school in July. If you have questions on summer programming, feel free to contact me via social media and I will respond as soon as I can. 😊 Self-care for myself: As I have mentioned in my post relating to self-care, keeping up on this is important. The better you take care of yourself, the more you can do for your kiddos. To read my post on self-care, 'Self care for the autism mommas', click here. The easiest way I find to coordinate all of this, as it can be overwhelming, is to make a list and go from there. Once I have my list, I can then get more information on each section, including dates / times of events and programming. Once I have all that information, I then can put together a schedule and create some visuals. The visuals are important as most young kiddos do not understand abstract thinking; if they can see what is going on for the day, they are less likely to be confused. (well, until the schedule becomes routine, anyway) Visuals to Reinforce Good Behavior: The chart I use, I refer to as a "chore chart", however, it is a behavior chart, I have just labeled it as something else. In this system, kiddos earn points for the expected good behavior. This process does work, but being consistent is very important. Make sure when you do introduce a visual like this, your rules & expectations are understood before going forward. Below are mine: Choose behaviors you want changed, for the better: I deem the most important behaviors more points as a motivator for my kiddos to work hard on changing them. For example, I will give 10 points to either kiddo if they "Use toilet always, no bed wetting or accidents". Sometimes these cannot be avoided, due to anxiety with one of my children, or a long line in the grocery store - mid-checkout, and one of them has to go and could not hold it. In that type of situation, if they did well with potty training the remainder of the day, I would still give points. List a reasonable reward for accruing points: I have learned using a toy as a prize is NOT a good idea. I use activities, more points for bigger activities. Taking a trip to the park for a picnic may be 20 points, while going to the pool may be 50 points. As I stated in Bridging the Gap, fun activities are great motivators. (and there are plenty of free ones for summer. If you need ideas, try searching online for 'kid-friendly no cost summer activities) Points can only be given, not removed: I tally up the points on the bottom of the chart, and they do not get removed for not following the rules & expectations. Make sure to mention this to your kiddo also. If they do not have the positive reinforcement and are not able to be held responsible for the points they do have, this whole process is then counter productive. You do not want your kiddo to dislike the chore chart. The goal is to make them want to follow your directions, not to force them. In time, they will understand they are responsible for their behavior, and they will not get anything, even negative points for not owning up to their behavior.  Change the chart as goals are met: Once your kiddo has met one of the goals on your chore chart consistently, such as potty training, it then can be removed. Replace these goals for behavior as necessary. One day, you will be able to fade away from the chore chart, and may not need it. Also, you may experience a tough time and need to reintroduce the chore chart later.  Schedule a time for tallying: It is important for your kiddo to see you tallying up their points. This way they can see what they have accomplished. Also, reading through all the goals and explaining if they have met the goal for the day with amount of points rewarded is necessary. This way, your kiddo understands how this chart works. If they did not meet a goal, you could mention when and why, along with what to do next time. Processing is just a part of everything with learning, and your kiddo may have lots of questions. That is okay, just make sure to follow your rules and keep your expectations reasonable. Give prizes only once a week: Once you have counted all the tallies for a whole 7 days, then the prize can be given if the amount of points are accrued. The prize points are subtracted from the points your kiddo has. Changing the prize is fun and adds variety, as your kiddo may get bored going to the pool every single week. (not in my house! But it could happen I guess..) At this point, the tallies are then cleared for the week and the new chart starts fresh. Don't give up: As this is a new process for yourself and your kiddo, do not get discouraged; this may take some time to get the hang of it, but I find it very beneficial and I hope you do as well. What's going on with us this week? As the end of June is approaching, we are preparing for Carter's summer school. Tuesday I plan to start working with the kids on academics - we will see how that goes; I am hoping I can work on their behaviors with school work as well. For myself, I am in the process of looking for legal counsel as I did hear back from the equal rights division on my FMLA complaint. I can't say much right now, but it looks like I may be able to get something out of this. That would be nice, I do not feel it was very fair the way my past employer treated me. Enough about that. I need to get back on track with my diet and exercise routine! Since I am now feeling better (we all are for the most part), I need to get back in to the gym. My trainer kicked my butt on Friday and I'm still feeling it. 😭  My best friend has vacation all week so I'm hoping we can get a mani / pedi together sometime. That is well deserved. The weather has been somewhat hot, 75 degrees, so I'll be taking the kids to the pool often. Andy had his annual golf outing at his work and his team won which is cool. Tonight he is making me steak 😍 Which is one of my favorites. Sadly, my trainer wants me to cut down on the gluten so I will be having mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes..and no, they do NOT taste the same at all! Along with almond milk instead of regular milk. We just got back from my mother's house, the kids enjoyed playing in her kiddie pool and running around. (they needed that) So they are pretty pooped. Should be an easy night. Since the kids were gone this weekend, I was able to deep clean their room. (and yes, I did find poop) I am still backed up on laundry but hey, I can't do it all in one day! Tomorrow there will be a lot of free kids events going on hosted by our Mayor, so we are going to make a whole day of that. I plan to take the kids to the library to meet the **If You Give A Mouse A Cookie mouse. If you have not read that book to your kiddo, I would recommend it. Just not before bed because the book is pretty funny and my kids always get riled up about it. Carter has a baseball game this week. I was able to get ahold of his dad, hopefully he will reconsider the disclosure form so I can finally feature the kids in my blog and vlog. That's about all we have going on. My closing thoughts Implementing a new process can be hard to start; be patient not only with your kiddo, but with yourself also. I find the chore chart to be very helpful, and I hope you do too. Setting up some structure during the summer is important, and it gives you a chance to pinpoint any behaviors or struggles that school may have missed or forgot to inform you about. I hope you enjoyed my post, don't forget to check out my YouTube channel to see my vlog on this post with those visuals. Follow me on social media to stay in the know how of my posts and vlogs. Thank you all for reading, I really appreciate your support! Have a great day 💓 **Disclosure: Reviews of products & referenced links are not sponsored by any affiliates and are solely the opinion of the Author; these are strictly opinions and honest advice, which should not be considered consumer or health guidelines. The Autism Soup and/or The Author are not responsible for any injuries or damage due to procedures listed above. Please consult with your doctor in regards to health concerns.

Is This Beyond My Control?

How do I get my kiddo to stop doing that? Please refer all ** marks to Disclosure statement at the bottom of my post, also feel free to visit my Disclosure Page page on the bar on the right hand side of my blog. Links may be included in this post. Summary: Below I have described a situation in which I had to put a halt to certain behaviors at home. I also have listed some strategies that may also help you, along with details on how things are going at home this week. To skip to the autism related topic "What you can do to improve situations such as this". Can't you just control your child? Any other special needs parents out there here that line? 😡 Yeah me too. Special needs kiddos cannot just be redirected and then all is well again. I mean, they can be redirected, but, working on behavioral changes takes time, sometimes even years. I recently posted on how society perceives some autistic families, including those who do not understand our day to day struggle. And on top of that, the criticism we often face and try to manage without melting down ourselves. I am sure a few of you out there know where I'm coming from.  Whether your kiddo has a meltdown in the grocery store, is unbuckling the seat belt constantly on the high way, screaming on a plane, or running in circles at the DMV, please understand you are not alone. It may seem that way at the time, but somewhere out there, another autistic parent is going through something similar and also wants to rip their hair out. I'll fill you in on my experience and after provide some suggestions to help dissolve these situations, or at least get them going in a better direction. Noisy Neighbor - how dare you!! Sometimes I have my days where I am tired, cereal for supper and skipping the bath is not going to be the end of the world. Carter has adapted to change in routine so we no longer see meltdowns over this. Last week I, for whatever reason thought it was a good idea to shower mid-day instead of after the kiddos went to bed. Big mistake! This resulted in the boys running all over the house, fighting, yelling, and I was upset myself. Just a shower, that's all I wanted! It's been a crazy week. So going forward, even if I want to change the routine, because I am tired, or whatever the reason, I just can't do that until behaviors at home improve. They will, in time. Due to it being summer, the boys are constantly fighting and I haven't had much time away from playing referee over here.  As summer break is just starting, it throws off the kiddos' bedtime and morning routines. Lately they have been waking up at 4 a.m. Our apartment complex does not allow the boys to play outside - I find this ridiculous. The grass already looks yellow and dried up, not like they could do much more damage to it. I apologize, I am very cranky today due to some circumstances going on at home. Let's talk about that for a second. A few days ago, we received a warning letter from the apartment manager which stated we have five days to reduce the amount of "excessive noise" at home or we will be evicted. Again, relating back to my post on Dealing With Society & Autism - if you have not read it, please take a look and then continue on here. For those of you who have read it, remember the new neighbor who had the audacity to stand in my doorway and tell me how to control Carter while he was mid-meltdown? Well, she wasn't done. This lady is really working my last nerve. I have decided to take the high road and just not answer the door when she knocks. As you may recall, I did not handle our last conversation well. Since she could not reach me, she contacted the regional apartment manager, and we then received our warning letter from the local apartment manager. (he lives in the building next to ours onsite) She is complaining that the kiddos are up at 4 am running, stomping, and banging on things. She also said throughout the day this is happening. Again, I reached out to the apartment manager, reminded him -again- that Carter has autism and some noise is inevitable when he has a meltdown. What does this lady expect, me to restrain my child? I would never. So, here we are, trying to work on keeping things quieter.  First off, it's going okay so far. We only have two days left until the warning letter expires, which will be Sunday evening. Am I the only parent out there in general that cannot no matter how hard you try, wake up at 4 a.m.? I tried. Two mornings in a row after this happened. I failed. I would love to be one of those 'sleepless elite' parents that only need 4 -5 hours of sleep to survive. Between myself and my SO, we also started sleeping on the couch to put them back to bed in the wee morning hours. It has been working, hopefully that continues. The thing is, with two little boys, full of energy, not allowed to play outside, and the closest park 30 minutes away, we don't get around to getting all that energy out every single day. I am just not sure what this lady expects. I do not understand it at all. She lives in a lower apartment, there is always noise. Logically one would think, "Hmm..I would like a quiet apartment, is a lower unit really a good idea?". Or maybe ask some questions before signing the lease, such as, 'Do the people above me have children or people over all the time?'. I am drawing the conclusion that she has never been a parent or just does not care for children at all. I really do not like this lady, if that has not been clear enough already 😂 BUT again, I am tired! Even with that, I cannot give up. I have to try to get the boys to slow down, drive to that park every other day, and set some better ground rules for morning activities. I am also wondering if she's going to complain about the cat running back and forth, too. (Our cat Bella is only 2 years old so she's pretty wild, especially late night / early morning. Duh, she's a cat.) This is driving me crazy! I can handle redirecting a little bit every day, but this is all day long.  Let me share with you how I'm managing this 'noisy problem' (jeez this is ridiculous): Limiting screen time: One hour of tablet time per day, no tv until myself or Andy are up in the morning. This is an incentive to keep reinforcing good behavior. We have worked on adding in a few extra minutes if they go back to bed until 7 a.m. Visualizing demands: phrases such as 'walking feet please', 'where do you need to be until 7 a.m.?', 'slow down like a snail'. These help the boys picture what we are asking them to do, which is simpler for a young kiddo in general to understand rather than abstract conversations. For example, Maddex's dad told him to "respect other people in the building", come on now, he's not even 5 years old yet. 😒 Setting an example: We both model the behavior we expect, if they do not understand what we are asking them to do. I had to stand both kiddos next to me, demonstrate how to slowly walk through the house, and coaching them through it. Yes, we really had to do that. I still have to a few times a day. Using a quiet voice: Your kiddo will usually mirror your voice when you speak in a whisper or a quiet voice. I also just hand signals when they are yelling. This is a visual reminder and most times works immediately. Choose to turn it around or miss out: "If you choose to run/other not acceptable behavior, then you will not be able to have tablet time/other preferred activity. This works well. If all else fails, we call Grandma. That always works. And that better be the end of this! What can you do to improve situations such as this No worries, these things happen. It can always be turned around with some creativity and patience. These may help improve behaviors or fizzle down meltdowns: Stay calm: The more calm you are, the better you can think, and this models the behavior you want to see. Again, visuals rather than abstract demands. Find the trigger/cause of behavior: If you can, avoid that trigger. If not, ask the 'wh' questions and investigate what's going on. Process the situation: If you can have a conversation with your kiddo about what's going on, what you expect, and how to get there, have that conversation. If you cannot, I would encourage you to still speak to your kiddo, and look for physical cues that they understand what you are saying (eye contact, nodding head). If this does not work, you may need to get creative - draw out a story, or tell one, turn it into a game, or see if a family member or friend can help you brainstorm on more ideas. (Yes that's right, I don't have all the answers) Before & After: This also ties into the processing, just observing and making mental notes of what happened before, and after, how to prevent it, and what could be done better next time.  Stay consistent: Keep your expectations the same every time. Patience is key here. Do not give up - things will turn around in time. Once your kiddo sees that you will not budge, they will eventually make a change. Our week at home As usual, just a bit of how things are coming along at home. I have not had much time for anything due to the constant monitoring and redirecting. I meant to already have this post done, on Wednesday, and due to Carter's baseball and programming, that did not happen. We also had a few appointments this week. We all still have a cold, it is getting better, just a lot of runny noses.  Carter started his programming for summer at one of the autism centers in our area. He only goes for 4 hours a week, but this is good for him to get some programming and keep some sort of consistency. I have my computer fully set up, and am still figuring out the webcam. I did a few test videos and should be able to get something posted on my channel next week. I know I know, I keep saying that...it's hard to just record a video when I can only do that when the kiddos are sleeping. As I have stated before, due to legal reasons, my children cannot be featured in any of my content, including vlogs.  With the crazy lady down stairs, we are looking to move. So far we saw one apartment, an upper, a block from home. At first I was apprehensive, but we discovered there is a small office room (perfect for blogging and recording), the apartment is above garages (no downstairs neighbors), there are only 5 other people in the building, and it's a little bit bigger than what we have now. The leasing agent said they are waiting for some paperwork from someone else, but still encouraged us to apply. At this point, if we can find something within Carter's school district, that accepts cats, I cannot complain. The next one we are going to see is outside of Carter's school district, and from the pictures looks like it only has coin-op laundry (we have a washer / dryer in our apartment, and so does the one we looked at today). Hopefully we find something nice soon. We finally told the kids about our upcoming vacation. They were so thrilled! We looked at pictures of Disney World and the hotel we will be staying at. They are so excited! I mean, Andy and myself, we are too, even though we are adults 😀 But hey it should be a good time, last birthday in my 20's. My coding template is not working properly so I've been manually coding half of this post, which is very time-consuming.. My closing thoughts Again, I apologize this post is so late. I just want some time to relax. I am hoping things turn around here and we find a place that isn't so pesky about Carter's behavior. Some things I can only control so much. I am so tired. I hope my strategies have helped at least one autism parent or caregiver in a similar situation. Again, patience is key. Follow me on social media for updates on new posts. **Disclosure: Reviews of products & referenced links are not sponsored by any affiliates and are solely the opinion of the Author; these are strictly opinions and honest advice, which should not be considered consumer or health guidelines. The Autism Soup and/or The Author are not responsible for any injuries or damage due to procedures listed above. Please consult with your doctor in regards to health concerns.

What's going on this week?

What's new for June? Please refer all ** marks to Disclosure statement at the bottom of my post, also feel free to visit my Disclosure Page page on the bar on the right hand side of my blog. Links may be included in this post. Summary: Below I have listed an update on how things are going with the blog, vlog, social media, and at home. There will not be an autism strategy in this post, my apologies all.  YouTube Channel: As I may have mentioned before, I am currently working on setting up my YouTube channel; I just purchased a webcam and have yet to set it up. I actually did a few vlogs on my iPhone, and it was pretty shaky, bad quality. Only the best for my viewers, so that is why this is taking so long. I am becoming impatient about it..once I figure all this new technology out, I am sure it will be a breeze. (Well, a girl can hope..) I also purchased a new desktop today, I am in the process of figuring all that out. Andy is helping me set it up and we both said "We are too old for this" multiple times ha! Advertising I plan to get going on a few ads - yes I know, they sometimes can be annoying to scroll past. With investing in a new computer, I am looking to slowly earn that back. See, I said I was frugal, didn't I? 😉 Bear with me on that one! Adsense does not let me choose which ads to feature. (to my knowledge, please correct me if I am wrong). Social media is my main source of advertising at the moment, please spread the word about my blog! Also, I do have a business email if there are any fellow bloggers out there or advertising companies that would like to collaborate; my email is posted in my 'Contact Information' page on the right hand of my blog. Feel free to shoot me an email if you are interested. Twitter I am new to twitter, still trying to figure out how to get verified. I may need to contact their customer support as I have no clue on how to get that ball rolling 🙀 Technology is surpassing me these days! I might need to do some reading online about what a 'retweet' is even. How's it going at home? School is -almost- out for summer; Maddex had his last day June 1st, last Friday. Carter's last day is this week, most likely Friday. I have been so unorganized I had to email his teacher to get the date and time. (She has not yet responded). With summer break comes lots of fun activities. I am excited for the pools to open, along with lots of kid-friendly events in the community. Okay, okay, call me a hypocrite if you want....Andy and I decided it is time to cut down on screen time. In a previous post I mentioned (in the past) limiting screen time was not something I planned to do. We are limiting the kiddos to one hour of tablet a day, along with cutting back on tv time. I am sure once we have some events lined up to attend this will drastically change. Maddex doesn't seem to mind; Carter is furious with us at this point. He even put his tablet in the garbage and hid the tv remove on me. Lots of verbal aggression. I expect this to turn around after a week or so. Once he gets out and about - especially in the pool, he will be fine. But hey, we have to start somewhere, right? IEP's, med changes, and vacation!  Both IEP's are now completed, we have the summer school schedules and placement set up for both the kiddos. Carter is going to attend the same school, and Maddex will be at a closer school within walking distance. Luckily, as he will be starting Kindergarten, he will be transported via the bus. (Yay! Commuting them to school has never been a favorite of mine, I enjoy just putting my robe and sandals on, waving bye as they get on the bus, and going back in the house to lounge around in my pajamas for an hour with a cup of coffee). Carter is going through a med change, and due to medical reasons, my doctor suggested I also do the same. I have been nervous about it, but hey, the doctor has the degree, right? I am sure I am not the only autism mom with an anxiety disorder - I mean, hello, anxiety regardless. I feel like the med change is giving me more anxiety, rather than less...hopefully this gets better in time. Pray for good things for me please 😏 Vacation trip!!! Yes that is right, we are going on our first family vacation!! Andy's mother is treating us to a week in Florida at Disney Land. We are all very excited - we haven't said much to the kids yet at this point as it is over two months away. We will be going in late August. Once we get closer to that date, I am hoping to work on some extra posts so I can just publish and you all can continue to read up on my autism strategies while we are out of state. I will have some great stories when we get back home. My closing thoughts I am excited to start working with my new desktop and webcam 🙆 In time I will get better and better at this - I am pretty tech savvy, it's just a matter of figuring out how the new computer works, as it is windows and I am a mac user. I have never used a webcam before, and it's still in the box. One thing at a time here, I'll get those vlogs going as soon as I can. Summer time is very busy for the kiddos, they cannot wait to play in the water. I am ready for it, with school out of the way, I then have an open schedule, which is great. Lots of changes happening around here. Stay tuned and check out my social media for updates on future posts. **Disclosure: Reviews of products & referenced links are not sponsored by any affiliates and are solely the opinion of the Author; these are strictly opinions and honest advice, which should not be considered consumer or health guidelines. The Autism Soup and/or The Author are not responsible for any injuries or damage due to procedures listed above. Please consult with your doctor in regards to health concerns.